While Jane had never had a particularly outstanding intellect, she now also had a robber's audaciousness and a cat's cautiousness affecting her thought processes. And, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Running down the stairs, Jane wrote a short note to her parents stating that she was going out for a walk and stuck it on the fridge, then grabbed a few seemingly-random items: a change of clothes, shoes, and a towel (which she stuffed in a backpack), along with Missy's cat carrier and a pail.
Pulling the robber's hood over her now unfamiliar face, Jane prayed none of the neighbors had seen the break-in or called the cops. Slinking out the back door, she took off as fast as she could go for the woods. Moving with a purpose, she ran through the woods for quite a ways, only stopping when she reached a rather large lake. The weather was rather chilly, so she didn't run into any hunters or fishermen, and thanks to Missy's nose, she was able to find a completely deserted spot along the lake that was fairly covered by boulders and trees, providing her some privacy. Hiding her backpack and setting down the cat carrier, Jane carried the pail to the edge of the lake and stood over it, looking down at the water. She dipped the pail into the water and filled it partway, then crouched over the edge.
Suddenly, with very cat-like reflexes, Jane reached out and swiped a small fish out of the lake and into the pail. Thanks to Missy, Jane managed to corral 10 small fish in her pail. Sitting back, Jane placed the pail on the ground and went on to the next step in her plan. Concentrating carefully, Jane unmerged with Missy, the cat ending up back in her arms, just as she had been before the merging. However, Jane could feel her own body changing to accomodate the loss of Missy, as well as Missy's sudden shock at being in the arms of a strange person. Jane tossed Missy into the cat carrier before she could hiss and closed the door.
Jane breathed heavily in and out as her body shifted again. She was taller and bulkier than her original body, taking on more of the robber's characteristics. However, that was not the only change. Whether it was because of the robber's personality or his size, his characteristics seemed to dominate Jane. Getting up and walking over to the lake, she realized from her reflection she was no longer a she - she was a he.
Jane now had a bit of a peach-fuzz stubble on his face although he appeared to be in his early twenties, and his hair was a very light brunette, longer than that of the robber but shorter than Jane's original hair. However, the biggest changes were in his body. Jane let out a shivery breath as he ran his hands across the robber's flat chest, and in shock, reached down to his groin. For a moment, Jane was tempted to spend some time as he was, exploring a completely different gender for a while. After all, no one would know it him. However, after a moment he shook his head and let go of the fantasy. Eventually, his parents would expect him home, and as a young girl, not a male criminal.
Placing Missy's cat carrier in a relatively safe crevice, Jane took one more look around to ensure he was alone. Satisfied, he quickly stripped, then, shivering, stuffed the clothes and boots under the rocks where they hopefully would never be found. Taking one regretful look at his new body, Jane picked up the pail of fish and walked into the lake, sitting down and placing the pail on the bottom in a place where it was too shallow for the fish to escape. Since the fish had been in water, they were still alive, but the pail was small enough that Jane could easily touch them with his hands. Grabbing one of the fish, Jane touched it with the hand that wore the ring and willed himself to merge.
After the usual blackout, Jane watched with awe as scales slowly crept up his body, his limbs taking on a webbed aspect. He was extremely shorter now too, only about three feet tall. Although small indentations appeared on the side of his neck and his body proportions changed slightly, no gills appeared yet, since Jane was still two humans merged with only one fish. Clasping the next fish, he went through the procedure again and again, until finally his hands and feet had atrophied into fins, allowing him to no longer stand, and he breathed through fully functional gills. It had taken four fish.
Swimming with ease through the murky waters of the lake, Jane set his sights for the deepest part, but stayed relatively close to the surface. He couldn't believe how quickly he could move, gliding like an arrow through the water. Finally, he reached the center of the lake. Concentrating, he finally unmerged from the robber. Shrinking more and becoming extremely much more fish-like, she darted away the minute she was free, madly swimming for shore.
The robber came to a second later, but could not believe his eyes. One second ago, he had been breaking into a house...what was he doing naked in the middle of a freezing cold lake? Jane could feel the vibrations of his thrashing behind her, but ignored it. Whether he survived or not was up to him; served him right for breaking into her house. Arriving at the spot where she entered the lake, Jane quickly unmerged with all seven fish and stood up, shivering. Dumping the other three fish back into the water, she quickly dried herself off with the towel, dressed in her own clothes, and grabbed a very confused Missy in her cat carrier.